We continue with the second part of the content that we saw in the past WEBINAR of the VICON Method about What the VICON Method is and how it can help me with my child and his language. Remember that to understand what we are going to tell you next, you have to take a look at Part 1 .

VICON method requires structure and consistency . Therefore, during the two-week trial we need to prove that we are capable of playing the videos every day . Well, establishing a routine is the most important thing for our children and for learning. From the Method we give recommendations, but it is really the family, the classroom and the therapist who has to create their own routine and maintain it.

Once the time factor has been developed, after a few weeks we will see that it is the children themselves who ask us for those videos at the right time.

We have to be clear that if the method is not comfortable for us, we will not do it. If we don't create a workable routine, the only thing it will bring us is more stress and we will have to quit. So families and schools, you have to create your routine and make it a daily routine for everyone involved . Keep in mind that the videos have a duration of 2 to 4 minutes , which is feasible.

What type of show is it?

It is an evolutionary and professional program . We have analyzed all the places that a child has to do to achieve learning, language and communication .

It is an early childhood education program made for special education, step by step because we do not want to leave any child behind no matter how affected they are. We don't want them to stumble over any steps and we want them to create a good structural foundation. That is why in the method we are very traditional, we try to establish a good base from which to grow globally, we seek to work in all the areas necessary for the development of the person and the child so that they are successful in their learning whatever is presented to them.

We have to keep in mind that it is a therapeutic program . I always say that there is an evolution that is like a wave. There are moments of takeoff, stop and retreat. that take us to the next takeoff. If we are not strong, confident and remain constant in all these developmental phases of the child, we will not be able to overcome any therapeutic program to which we adhere.

Not everything is progress, not everything is joy. There are flat moments and there are moments of setback, of potential growth, but with therapeutic follow-up we are able to overcome any obstacle along the way. The most important thing is that you rely on your method therapists to be able to deal with all those phases that are going to come.

It is a transversal and functional program , what we promote is that it is useful for children. He is not looking for another function, but rather something that serves him in his daily life, focusing a lot on interaction and learning through the object and the other.

Finally, say that play is the beginning of learning. but we also have to develop it and work on it. That is why it plays an important part in this program since the game has a social component that many children with autism do not develop and this difficulty also appears when there is no verbal communication, sometimes it appears in our children and sometimes it appears in the group that involves that child who is non-verbal or has language difficulties. We have to greatly enhance interaction through videos so that they begin to recognize these situations and learn from them, even enjoy them.

What methodologies are there in the Method?

Many methodologies converge within the VICON Method: the Doman for image processing, the entire design of the backgrounds and exposure times. We also have bimodal communication , we use signs because we consider that we speak with the body rather than with words and the vast majority of our children are either non-verbal or have many communication and spontaneous language difficulties. So we make them sign, and they do it, they learn it and they begin to understand what this communication is about. We do not consider that learning signs will delay the development of language, in any case.

We use the ABA methodology to design this evolutionary program step by step that follows the patterns of developmental psychology and we use the entire Montessori methodology for which the sensory experience, the materials and the experience they need to develop are natural.

What does the Method really work with?

We of course work on the whole issue of reading and writing , of that preparation. Because it intervenes in processes of orientation, laterality and that I want to work on in depth. It is very important to do and redo all activities pulling the thread of that skill. Acquiring that skill and developing it on more complex levels.

Then, we also have to be experts in each plastic material and for that it requires a lot of experience. It is very important to try new things like materials and tools . Just as manual dexterity will lead us to the preparation of writing and the development of reading.

Those that require very elaborate, joint and truly complex attention. Variability in learning is a quality that we have to develop . Through all the plastic activities we can integrate the areas of learning, making it much more meaningful, much more complex . This will lead us to develop concentration, creative and motivating skills in which we put body and thought into their development.

We continue with autonomy skills . For us, that nuance of responsibility is very important. We can, for example, involve them in all the housework. This will give them the self-esteem necessary to move forward, to feel that they are moving forward and that they are able to orient themselves in an environment with all its materials. With all its areas organized by spaces, wherever the object is it has its function establishing a necessary order essential for learning.

What is language development like with the Method?

Of course we are going to work on language development as our main objective to improve the quality of life of our children, with no other aim than to ensure that they are able to communicate, to ask, to explain what they want, what is happening to them that hurts them.

It is not an easy task, we have to think again about all the steps of language development when it is not natural. Of course it will not be spontaneous or functional from the beginning , at first it is a spring language , almost automatic, which is carried out through mirror neurons when I see someone doing it on the subway.

Just watching someone speaking activates our brain areas responsible for language and we need to create this automatic speaking spring of vocal production, this will be our first objective.

In the second instance , when we develop this it becomes spontaneous , it begins to use language in a slightly more appropriate way and not in response to the other's language. I start by spreading words into the air spontaneously, then we have reached the second milestone of language development.

We continue pulling that thread to use those words appropriately to achieve something. It's when I start saying bread when I want bread, water or vases or when I'm thirsty.

Do not forget that this process develops if we reinforce all those achievements that our children make, it is very important to move from one milestone to another that the feedback they receive from us is motivational and reinforcing , and above all bidirectional.

We will be the main protagonists so that these milestones develop stronger and faster. It is very important to understand that it is necessary to go through each achievement to gain strength and not produce blocks in your language development.

The next point where we are going to find another step in the development of language is when we enter into the use of language to attract the attention of others . When we say “come, mom” , when we require the company of another, to share with the other, to play, to observe something together, perform some joint activity. This is when we enter the milestone of social language development.

So it is very important in these first interactions with the method that we reduce all verbal demands. We ask families to let the Method act on its own to be able to evaluate and diagnose the effect it has on our child. This way we can determine the language level at which you are within all these milestones .

This is done in order to give the child experience in the milestone where he is but not cause him to stumble by forcing him to climb a step that he is not yet ready to climb.

Experience in language is what will give us development. It's like a child who starts to walk and we already want him to run. We have to give the child the time necessary to move on from objectives in a natural way and with the necessary strength to be able to sustain himself within that milestone.

Therefore, it is important that we do not force you to see the method as we would like you to see it. Their attentional processes are very different and often do not require being glued to the screen, sitting still with their eyes glued to the device. Many children need to move during visualizations and allowing it makes the work much more natural for them and much more effective, they look when they need to see and many times they do it with their ears.

A very important tip: you always have to take into account the child's moment.

You have to respect the child and his moments because he will also have his phases. We have talked that within development there are different phases. But the child also has his moments that will determine how we have to adapt the method to each of them.

We often find ourselves in situations of... my child does not want to watch the videos where the therapist answers or looks up what is happening and the mother diagnoses... he is having a crisis, he does not sleep well, he is very restless at school, he has many stereotypes...

Respecting your moments will make us be truly effective , giving you the support you need at every moment. Obligation is our worst enemy . If the child feels that the Method comes to have more demands, more demands and is totally directive, the child will suffer more pressure and we will have less achievements.

Work does not have to be perceived as such, children have to enjoy it and on many occasions we have to translate that into less exposure and higher quality and always adapted to the child's moment.

To finish, emphasize that it is important to do everything with enthusiasm. We have to believe in the program. We have to recover our childhood aspect, because we will be the best references that our children can adhere to.

You have to jump into the pool and do, do and do like children because that is the most expressive, nicest and highest-quality work that children can receive from their model. When we are with our child we have to enjoy him and put aside everything he should do, what we should do, start paying attention to what we feel unites us, whatever it may be.

We have to start sharing more quality moments . Sometimes it's not about more moments but rather the ones we share that are truly in tune with our child. Don't be afraid to reproduce their stereotypes, to play with their favorite toys, to live moments of silence and be mirrors and their actions. Don't be afraid to get dirty, to throw yourself on the floor, to make a mess and pay more attention to sensations, stop talking and start feeling the vibration of your little ones, learn to wait... Give them the opportunity to interact even if they are not verbal and take into account that in communication, 75% of what we share is non-verbal, so by paying attention to that non-verbal part we will be working on 75% of the communication that our children have so much difficulty with but sometimes so much to teach us.

We see you on our social networks and remember that you can always be part of the great community that we have in ourgroup .